Egg-container.



1. DE Q. TULLY.' EGG CONTAINERQ APPLICATION FILED FEB. 12. I915.

' Patented Feb. 6, 1917.

TULLY, a citizen of the v I especially adapted to be used for the trans- THOMAS ma: QUINCY TULLY,

EGG-CONTAINER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS DE QUINCY United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the County of Kings and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Egg Containers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to shipping cases portation of eggs and it consists in the novel... features hereinafter described and the case while in transit. .Inasmuch claimed.

An object'of the invention is to provide .a' shipping case of simple and durable structure in which eggs may be packed in a man-- ner to hold them against movement within as eggs vary in length and size it has been difiicult and practically impossible to confine them in the ordinary shipping case during ship-' ment and consequently damage frequently results which it is the prime object of the present invention to prevent by providing means for holding the eggs of different sizes against movement while the case is in transit.

With these objects in view the case comprises'a body having arranged therein series of cruciform partitions in the spaces between which the eggs after being wrapped may be lodged. The wrappings and the said partitions restrain the eggs from moving later-.

allyand fillers are positioned against the ends of the shorter eggs to restrain them against movement longitudinally.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a perspective view of the case. Fig. 2 is a transversesectional view of part of the same taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detailed perspective view of parts of the upper portion of the case.

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of part of a horizontal partition used in the case. 1

Fig. 5 is a detailed horizontal sectional view of part of the case taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of. the; end fillers of the egg compartments of the' case.

HE TA Specification of I Letters Patent.

AaENT orron or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

formed upis of general parallelopiped;

configuration as shown in Fig. l. The material constituting the body 1 is heavy paper or cardboard, and includes an outer wall 2 and inner wall 3 and a corrugated layer 4 interposed between the said walls 2 and provided at its top and hot;

The body 1 is tom sides with end flaps 5 and side flaps When the body 1 is closed the fiaps'5 are folded down and the flaps 6 are folded over the same as indicated in Fig. 1. By reason. of the flexible connection between the edges;

of the side walls and the end walls of this body the same may, when the closure flaps are thrown back, be folded into aflat and compact condition. It is in this folded or fiat and compact condition that the boxes are sent from the factory to the shipper,

- Patented Feb. 6,1917. Application filed February 12, 1915. Serial No. 7,904.

who, in setting up the box, unfolds the same until the side walls are. parallel and the end walls at right angles to thesside walls after which the closure flaps at the bottom of the box are folded over so as to provide a bottom, whereupon the box is filled with the,

material .to be shipped and the top ,closure flaps folded over and an adhesive used to connect the bearing surfaces of the end flaps 5 with the side flaps 6. This use of the adhesive is made also with the flaps forming the bottom, of the box. In the opening of the box which is accomplished by separating the surfaces connected by the adhesive,

it invariably happens that one or all of the,

flaps are materially damaged so that further use cannot be made of the box. With the present invention, however, and by eliminating the use of the adhesive the closure flaps may be readily opened by the consignee so that when the box is emptied of its contents, it may be folded into the shape it had when it left the manufacturer, and in that shape restored tothe shipper. One embodiment for effecting the connection between the closure flaps is shown in the drawings where the flaps 5 are provided with eyes 7, which, when the flaps are folded as above indicated, lie between the edges of the flaps 6, and brads or other suitable securing devices may be passed through the eyes 7 and lie against the upper surfaces of the flaps 6 and hold the said flaps in closed position. Obviously, with this construction the several flaps of the closures may be readily secured together and when so secured a thin band of paper may be pasted around the body so as to bridge the joint between the side flaps and to overlie the eyes 7 and brads 8, and thus by its presence operate to render the joint relatively air-tight and to prevent the accidental displacement of the brads. Partitions 9 and 10 are arranged in cruciform relation in manner and the spaces between the said partitions constitute compartments in which the eggs may be lodged. The partitions 9 and 10 are preferably formed from threeply material arranged similar to the plies of material which constitute the body 1.

Partitions 11 also of three-ply material are located in the body 1 upon the bottom thereof as indicated in Fig. 2, and another upon the partitions 9 and 10. The partitions 11 are provided in their outermost plies with depressions 12 and the said partitions are notched at their ends as at 13 to provide space through which the finger tips may be inserted for the purpose of removing the partitions from the body 1. The depressions 12 in the partitions 11 correspond in number with the compartments between the partitions 9 and 10, and the said depressions are approximately centrally arranged with relation to the said compartments when'in position in the body 1. Fillers 14: are adapted to fit in between the partitions 9 and 10 and the said fillers are provided with depressions 15 adapted to receive the end portions of the Upon arranging one of the fillers 14: in any cell or compartment and superimposing it upon the egg, if it be found that the filler be insufiiciently thick to fill the intervening space between the egg and the top wall of the compartment, then any number of supplemental fillers conforming in size to the filler 14, may be employed to fill that space. Such supplemental fillers will be formed of two-ply material rather than the three-ply material of which the filler 14 is formed. 1

Prior to placing each egg in the body it is surrounded by a wrapper which consists of a corrugated sheet 16, which is placed directly around the sides of the egg, then a sheet having a plane or fiat surface 17 is placed around the sheet 16. This sheet also has a corrugated surface 18 which bears against the inner surfaces of'the partitions 9 and 10, as best indicated in Fig. 5 of the the body 1 in the usual uppermost edges of the lowermostthe egg compartments drawing. Therefore, the eggs are restrained against lateral movement with relation to the partitions 9 and 10.

The general structure of the case and partit'ons, fillers and wrappers is such that the eggs are resiliently supported and may not be broken in consequence of usual handling of the case. .At the same time the eggs are held against movement, and may not be damaged while the case is in transit.

claimed is 4 1. An egg container comprising a case including a cover, a cell structure provided with a series of cells for receiving the eggs, said structure fitting the interior walls of the case whereby the cells are held in a relatively immovable position, a pad fitting the interior walls of the case, and provided with cup-shaped depressions corresponding in number with the number of cells, the said depressions being so arranged that when the cell structure is placed upon the pad, the centers of the mentioned depressions will fall in line with the centers of the cells, a wrapper located in each cell and having a depth less than that of the cell in which it is mounted so that when an egg is placed therein, one end thereofwill engage in the next adjacent depression in the pad and the other end of the egg the opposite end of the wrapper, a filler fitting the-interior walls of each cell, each filler having a cup-shaped depression to receive the protruding end beyond said oppositeend of the wrapper and co-acting with the pad to hold the egg in an upright and rigid position within the cell and the said cover of the case serving with the pad and fillers respectively to hold the ends of the eggs in secure confinement in the mentioned depressions in said pad and the fillers.

2. An egg container, comprising, a case, a cell structure fitting the interior walls of the case, and adapted to be held against lateral movement through engagement with the walls, the said structure having cells which are each of a less depth than that of the case, a pad fitting the interior walls of the case and engaged by said walls so as to be held uniformly in the same vertical line with the cell structure and provided with depressions corresponding in number with the number of cells, and adapted to fall in line with the centers of the cells through engagement of the walls of the case with the pad, and means fitting each of said cells and provided with a depression, the walls of the cell engaging with said means so as to hold the depression in said means in the same vertical line with the depression in the pad at the opposite end of the cell, the cells being adapted to receive the eggs whereby the ends of the eggs will respectively will protrude aboveproject into the deat Having described the invention what is pressions in the pad and also the depresy In testimony whereof I aflix my signasions in said means at the opposite ends of ture in presence of two Witnesses. v the cells so that the eggs are held in a rela- THOMAS DE QUINCY U v tively rigid perpendicular position, and

means in each cell adapted to embrace the Witnesses:

egg and hold the same against lateral move- M. E. LAUGHLIN, ment. A. V; DOYLE. 

